Cooler Master HAF 922 ATX Case

Packaging & External Appearance

The box has the usual case picture and a moody red sky background to it that ties in nicely with the front red LED fan. When I spun the box around to read the specification though my heart sank... It appeared my case had taken part in the game we all fear 'Postal Rugby'. It had taken quite a whack and the thick cardboard was quite badly torn. I feared the worst and opened it up to inspect the damage

Inside, the case was protected at both ends with polystyrene and a thick plastic bag covered the whole case, which is what we would expect as a minimum standard today. To my surprise there was no damage to the case at all so even though the packaging was basic its passed its transit tests with flying colours.

The front of the case is dominated by a rugged looking slot design and mesh much like the 932. At the top of the front panel its has 2 USB connection's a headphone, microphone and an e-SATA port. The side panels have deep bulges like the Storm Sniper, one side helps better direct the airflow from the optional fitted fans and the other to allow much easier cable routing behind the motherboard tray. You wont spend ages trying to fight the back panel on with this case if you have a non-modular power supply.

The top has two main features, a 200mm fan, which also has mounts for 2x 120mm fans, I instantly assumed this would support water cooling radiators and had a selection of different thickness types to see which ones fitted best above the motherboard. On closer inspection the fan spacings are a strange 20mm apart. With the industry almost agreeing on a 15mm standard spacing it baffles me how Cooler Master have passed up the chance of selling this as water cooling ready like the 932 and Cosmos S. If the spacing were right there is indeed enough room above the motherboard for a medium thickness radiator and fans so one can only think that this is an oversight.

The second feature is a rugged looking tray which follows the design of the front up to the roof. The tray is not just handy to chuck your keys or a USB stick in but is also where you will find the power, reset and a handy front fan LED button.

At the rear of the case as with many it is all very standard and plain looking apart from an 8th vertical PCI slot which comes in very handy for extra USB's. The PSU is mounted at the bottom of the case, a 120mm/92mm/80mm combination fan mount and a pair of grommets for water cooling hoses to pass through.The case came bundled with a handy 5.25" to 3.5" adaptor brackets, the usual screws and stand off's plus a speaker and a optional bracket you can fit to lock the side panel if you would like your rig secured at LAN's.

The 922 is starting to look very familiar lets take a closer look at why....

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